Gone but Not Forgotten
by Dusha
Summary: Mustang, Hawkeye, and Armstrong discuss a certain ambitious alchemist left behind and a history they could never forget. Spoilers for the end of the series and the upcoming movie.


Disclaimer: Despite being geographically close to Japan right now, that has not influenced my ability to own Fullmetal Alchemist. However, if the writers want to use my ideas I'd be more than flattered.

Warning: This contains spoilers not only for the end of Fullmetal Alchemist, but also for the limited information released pertaining to the movie. I've taken quite a few creative liberties (like an explanation of what happened to Roy—un-enlisting and then re-enlisting as a non-commissioned officer to be stationed at the Northern Front). Information about the movie was gleaned from fullmetal-alchemist dot com.

Gone but Not Forgotten

By: Dusha

A knock on the door interrupted Riza Hawkeye in mid-sentence on an unexpectedly hectic Sunday evening. "Please excuse me," she apologized to her guest as she set down the cup of tea she had been nursing for the past hour. "I need to answer the door."

"By all means," her companion replied, leaning back comfortably in his armchair despite its snug fit.

Riza nodded, unsure of the mischievous glint in her visitor's eyes. While walking to the short distance to her small but comely home's front door, she realized that she should have known that today would bring guests. It should have been obvious that old friends would appear on her doorstep asking for one last favor on today of all days. Opening the door, she blinked once in surprise at the thick darkness that had fallen on Central. She must have been talking with her companion longer than she thought. On her doorstep in the muggy night stood a man cloaked in black with sharp eyes peering out from a short-brimmed cap.

"Major…" the figure said softly with a hint of reservation Hawkeye never remembered being there before. "Riza…I was hoping I'd be able to rest at your home, if it's not an imposition. I'm only planning to be in Central for a few days--"

"Come in before the neighbors start wondering," Hawkeye cut him off brusquely, placing a hand on his shoulder and pulling him into the warmth of her home. "You know as well as anyone that you are always welcome here, Roy Mustang."

He smiled, and though it was only a shadow of his old, cocky smirk, Riza found herself grinning as well. "I don't know if the military will look kindly on a Major fraternizing with a lowly Staff Sergeant," Mustang commented dryly.

"There is no regulation I know of that places limitations on interactions between friends," Riza answered, taking her former commanding officer's cloak and ushering him towards the nearby living room.

Roy stopped short at the threshold to the room, shocked into immobility. For an instant he thought about running, but before he could turn on his heel and retreat two dangerously strong arms encircled him in a hug.

"Roy Mustang!" Hawkeye's first visitor boomed in a deep but jovial tone. "I should have suspected that we would all meet again, especially under such circumstances!"

"It is nice to have some of the old motley crew together again, Armstrong," Mustang gasped out, still managing to glare at Hawkeye's innocent face over the Strong Arm Alchemist's shoulder.

Apparently realizing his friend's distress, Armstrong loosened his grip on the younger man and took a step back to study him. Time, it seemed, had not been kind to Roy if the telltale glints of silver in his hair and distant look in his one visible eye were any indication. "Come, sit down my friend," Armstrong urged, regaining his own plush seat. Mustang nodded, opting for a small hearth stool that had been pulled near the coffee table instead.

A calm, companionable silence between the two men followed, broken only by the popping fire in the hearth and clinking of dishes as Riza retreated to the kitchen. When she returned to the room with a steaming cup of coffee and set it down in front of Roy, he looked down at it in surprise: cream and sugar. Glancing up at Hawkeye he realized that, of course, she still knew exactly how he liked his coffee. She offered him a surprisingly feminine and compassionate smile in return before taking her own seat opposite Armstrong.

"So," she began, knowing that neither one of the men would broach the true subject of their coincidental meeting without prodding. "I suppose you've both heard."

"It was difficult not to," Mustang admitted. "After all, he's even younger than his brother was, if only by a few months."

"But why?" Armstrong mused. "He would not wish for power, or glory, or prestige. The military has been disassociated with the Alchemists' Board, there is no longer any stipend for research, and no mysterious Lieutenant Colonel to goad him on. There is no longer any reason for him to take the exam."

Hawkeye let the two men ponder the question, touched despite her stern exterior at the concern knit into their brows. To some, Roy Mustang appeared to be a cold, manipulating man who took perverse pleasure in controlling other people's lives. She had heard Alex Louis Armstrong described as a shallow, ignorant fool who could not take matters seriously. Hawkeye knew the truth. Both of these men had playful characters and compassionate hearts that could overwhelm them. Looking at them both now, with their heads bowed identically in thoughtful memory, she knew that their hearts ached just as hers did.

"You haven't seen him, have you?" she asked, despite already knowing the answer.

Mustang raised his head sharply. "You have?"

Riza nodded, pausing to brush a stray strand of blonde hair out of her crimson eyes before continuing. "He arrived this morning on the 9:20 train. Someone had told me that he would be on that engine and I…happened to be in the area at the time so I decided to investigate. He was wearing his brother's jacket, his entire ensemble to be honest, and with his long hair I could have sworn it was Edward. But it wasn't. I looked into his face and could see his brown eyes shinning with the same determination as his brother, but it was softer, somehow, and just as I imagined he would be."

"That's it then," Mustang said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and steeple his fingers in a nostalgically comforting way. "There's no difference from before. We should have known that he would take the military's assessment to heart. To us, to adults, missing in action is a euphemism for unrecoverable body killed in action, but to Alphonse they are a promise. He will find his brother."

"After Scieszka visited Winry she told me that Alphonse had lost his memories of the past four years," Riza countered. "He doesn't remember anything they went through for each other."

"He doesn't remember," Armstrong told her, bringing a hand to his chest, "but he knows nonetheless."

Mustang smiled at his friends. He didn't know if he truly appreciated them before, their unwavering loyalty that was rivaled only by the unflagging bond the Elric brothers shared, but in this comfortable moment he understood how lucky he was. "All he wants is access to Central Library's restricted books. Many of them were declassified after the Diet took power, but some are still too dangerous for the general populace to have open access to. The clearance to read those texts is the only advantage of Nationally Certified Alchemist status left."

"The more things change, the more they stay the same," Armstrong noted sagely. He had lived long enough to truly appreciate those words. Changing the subject, he inquired, "Will you be attending the test, Major Hawkeye?" Due to Armstrong's new civilian status and Mustang's self-imposed demotions, Riza would be the only one of the trio allowed to observe the testing process and the youngest Elric's progress first-hand.

Riza sipped her tea with a blank expression, calmly saying, "I certainly am not going to allow a child into the State Building without supervision. It's against regulations."

"Then perhaps you can give him this." The Strong Arm Alchemist reached into his pocket with Hawkeye and Mustang's curious gazes intently pinned on him. Smoothly, he drew out a glinting silver watch.

"That's…it can't be. Al said it was destroyed in Lior."

Mustang only stared intently at the twirling timepiece, mesmerized deep into memories as Armstrong explained. "It should have been, but crews from my company found it in the ruins of the city when surveying it for reconstruction and repopulation by the remaining refugees. The Armstrong family is renowned for their prowess in search and discovery. For example, my Grandfather Jacques Armstrong headed the exploration of--"

"May I see it?" Roy broke in, effectively ending a recitation of the lengthy history of accomplishments by the Armstrong family. Handling it with reverence, the burly alchemist and businessman placed the watch into Mustang's open palm. The symbol of alchemic excellence had been skillfully restored and with its familiar weight in his hand thousands of memories rushed back to the former commanding officer.

There was Al, desperately restraining his older brother and entreating him to let an innocent, misconstrued comment about the Fullmetal Alchemist's height slide for once. He remembered Edward in the interview to become a Nationally Certified Alchemist, clenching his fists as he answered their questions with painful honesty. Another time Alphonse had found the courage to request an audience with the Colonel to ask with childish enthusiasm and politeness if Mustang could be 'just a little bit nicer to Brother'. He had answered with a smirk and a 'We'll see'. The image of Ed's triumphant grin as he strode out of Mustang's office, leaving a stewing Flame Alchemist to brood in the wake of his first verbal defeat by a fifteen year old, still brought the smallest of frowns to his face.

There were less happy times too. He had seen blood splattered on their faces, arms, and legs, regardless of their composition. Memories came to him of the brothers slumped in the rain, unable to comprehend the spitefulness of the universe. Ed's eyes, and Al's too, quivering in fear and dejection, facing a cruel world and feeling so very alone. He had seen that expression on their faces more times than he cared to remember. It was a look that reminded him that they would never depend on him, only on each other. Those looks made him want to hit them for their selfishness and hug them for their bravery. In the end, he did neither.

"Look inside," Armstrong advised, gesturing to the watch. Mustang glanced questioningly at Riza, but she knew no more of Armstrong's intentions than Roy. With one last puzzled look thrown to his former subordinate, Mustang did as he was bid. Opening the cover of the timepiece, he saw the graceful second-hand circling the clock face only to have his attention drawn to the exposed back of the watch's cover.

"Never forget 3, Oct. 10?" Hawkeye read aloud. "I don't understand."

"Neither did I," Armstrong admitted, "but I thought there might be one person that would know, other than Edward and possibly Alphonse."

Mustang looked up from the watch, staring forward with an intensely serious expression. "Al doesn't know about this, I'm sure. If he ever did, which I doubt, those memories are gone with the rest of those taken by the transmutation. That day, October third, was the day the Elric brothers burned down their home, their childhood, and began their quest."

Riza closed her eyes tightly, trying to school her expression as she struggled with her own feelings towards the two boys. There was a soft hand on her shoulder, Roy's her mind deduced, but she found herself too immersed in memories of Ed's kind yet defensive nature as he chewed on the end of his pencil while writing a report. She remembered Al's hesitant but constant offers to help in any way around the office in an effort to prove himself as more than an awkward child struggling in a world of adults. They should have known that neither one had anything to prove to anyone.

To Armstrong came visions of his visit to Risembool and the ruins of what had once been a happy, carefree childhood home. Watching Al wander through the ashes, with Ed's somberly loving gaze following his younger brother, the Strong Arm Alchemist felt a strange, fatherly pride in his heart. He didn't have any children of his own, but at that moment he remembered thinking that the Armstrong name would not have been tainted if associated with two strong boys like these, sifting bravely through a world they could never return to.

Hawkeye cleared her throat, reassuring Roy with a small smile and extending a hand to take the pocket watch. "When Alphonse passes the test I will personally deliver this to him," she vowed. There was no doubt in her mind that the young Elric brother would have custody of the keepsake within the week.

In another room a grandfather clock chimed, stirring the trio out of their respective private thoughts. "It's late," Mustang noted.

"I have work early in the morning," Hawkeye confessed. Still, none of them moved and the fire continued to burn brightly and cast golden shadows around the room. It was Armstrong who finally broke the silence.

"Do you remember Alphonse's fourteenth birthday?"

"Ah yes, and the horrible cake Fullmetal insisted we eat on his behalf. It was times like that when I envied Al."

"I think he made that himself as a present for his brother. Anyway, no matter how horrible it tasted, that was no excuse to ignite the cake and blame it on faulty candles, Mustang. You could be such a child."

"I was only stooping to Fullmetal's level…which was very, very low."

Armstrong's guffaw of surprised laughter was contagious and his two younger companions found themselves joining in unabashedly. Riza shared the next story, Roy a priceless one after that. Needless to say, Hawkeye was late to work the next morning.

Reviews, as always, are appreciated.


End file.
